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US storage market to more than double in 2017: GTM

The US energy storage market is on track to more than double this year, after installing a record 71MW/234MWh during the first quarter, according to new figures from GTM Research and the Energy Storage Association.

While US storage installations typically take a breather in the first quarter, the Q1 market got a big boost as projects initiated in response to the Aliso Canyon natural gas leak disaster in southern California were brought on line, including AES Energy Storage’s 30MW/120MWh Escondido installation – the largest lithium ion-battery based storage project anywhere in the world.

The US storage market remains dominated by utility-scale installations – known as “front of the meter” projects – many of which are paired with renewables plants. During Q1 Tesla completed its 13MW/52MWh Kapaia installation in Hawaii, which is paired with a large solar array.

Meanwhile, last week E.ON celebrated the opening of its first large-scale storage project in the US: the Iron Horse facility in Arizona, which pairs 10MW of lithium ion storage with a 2MW solar array. E.ON is also building 20MW of battery storage alongside some of its wind farms in Texas, due on line later this year.

More than 90% of the storage capacity added during Q1 came at such front-of-the-meter projects, and more than 95% was built using lithium-ion battery technology.

GTM expects the US market to hit 833MWh for the whole of 2017, up from 336MWh last year – on the way to an estimated 7,238MWh in 2022, in an annual market expected to be worth $3.2bn.

Such projections of ongoing market growth have fueled M&A in the US storage space over the past few years, with much of the investment coming from European companies. Last month Finland’s Wärtsilä agreed to acquire US storage firm Greensmith, which had been financially backed by E.ON among others.

California will remain the centre of the US storage market for the foreseeable future, bolstered by a growing amount of behind-the-meter installations on homes and business. But the battle for second place is heating up between Arizona, Hawaii, Massachusetts, New York and Texas, GTM says.

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US storage market to more than double in 2017: GTM

The US energy storage market is on track to more than double this year, after installing a record 71MW/234MWh during the first quarter, according to new figures from GTM Research and the Energy Storage Association.

While US storage installations typically take a breather in the first quarter, the Q1 market got a big boost as projects initiated in response to the Aliso Canyon natural gas leak disaster in southern California were brought on line, including AES Energy Storage’s 30MW/120MWh Escondido installation – the largest lithium ion-battery based storage project anywhere in the world.

The US storage market remains dominated by utility-scale installations – known as “front of the meter” projects – many of which are paired with renewables plants. During Q1 Tesla completed its 13MW/52MWh Kapaia installation in Hawaii, which is paired with a large solar array.

Meanwhile, last week E.ON celebrated the opening of its first large-scale storage project in the US: the Iron Horse facility in Arizona, which pairs 10MW of lithium ion storage with a 2MW solar array. E.ON is also building 20MW of battery storage alongside some of its wind farms in Texas, due on line later this year.

More than 90% of the storage capacity added during Q1 came at such front-of-the-meter projects, and more than 95% was built using lithium-ion battery technology.

GTM expects the US market to hit 833MWh for the whole of 2017, up from 336MWh last year – on the way to an estimated 7,238MWh in 2022, in an annual market expected to be worth $3.2bn.

Such projections of ongoing market growth have fueled M&A in the US storage space over the past few years, with much of the investment coming from European companies. Last month Finland’s Wärtsilä agreed to acquire US storage firm Greensmith, which had been financially backed by E.ON among others.

California will remain the centre of the US storage market for the foreseeable future, bolstered by a growing amount of behind-the-meter installations on homes and business. But the battle for second place is heating up between Arizona, Hawaii, Massachusetts, New York and Texas, GTM says.